Dr. Richard Land sent the below letter Feb. 14 to Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) thanking them for introducing the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which would both establish a ban on knowingly taking a minor across state lines with the intent of obtaining an abortion when such an action evades parental involvement laws in the minor’s home state and require those who perform the abortion on out-of-state minors to notify a parent of the minor at least 24 hours before the abortion will take place.

Download this letter to Senators Rubio and Hatch here and to Rep. Ros-Lehtinen here.

Dear Senators Rubio and Hatch:

Thank you for introducing the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA). This important bill would help to protect the health and safety of young girls and allow parents to continue to play a vital role in the lives of their daughters.

As you know, this legislation would do two things. First, it would establish a ban on transporting a minor across state lines with the intent of obtaining an abortion when such an action evades parental involvement laws in the minor’s home state. Second, physicians who perform an abortion on an out-of-state minor would be required to notify a parent of the minor at least 24 hours before the abortion will take place.

The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission strongly supports this legislation. We find it unconscionable that minors are allowed to evade their home state’s parental involvement laws. Further, we are greatly alarmed that in many cases parents, who are responsible for protecting and providing for their children, are not even notified that their underage daughter will undergo an abortion by an out-of-state abortion provider. Remarkably, in many school districts, nurses must first obtain parental consent before dispensing an aspirin to a young girl, yet that same young girl could obtain an abortion without parental knowledge. By requiring parental notification for out-of-state minors seeking an abortion and banning the evasion of state parental involvement laws, common sense is brought back into the policy arena.

Again, thank you for working to protect the health of young girls and safeguarding the important role of families in society. Please let us know if we can further help to ensure the wide support and swift passage of CIANA.

Sincerely,

Richard D. Land

Download this letter to Senators Rubio and Hatch here and to Rep. Ros-Lehtinen here.

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